Rabbi: Forbid non-kosher publicity for kosher products

Rabbi David Spitz, a kashrut supervisor proposes that ads for kosher food products forbid to provide non-kosher recipes.

By SHELLY PAZ
jp.services1 (photo credit: )
jp.services1
(photo credit: )
Advertisements for kosher Israeli food products would be forbidden to provide non-kosher recipes or serving suggestions if a proposal made by Rabbi David Spitz, the kashrut supervisor for Unilever Israel, is accepted.
Spitz made the suggestion at the first rabbis conference for kashrut held Tuesday in Jerusalem and sponsored by the Tzohar NGO.
"Marketing people shouldn't give recipes and cooking instructions that contradict the product's kashrut," said Spitz, who believes that most Israeli companies will accept the proposal. "At least 50 percent of the Israelis buy only kosher products when they are shopping for food. They may not be punctilious about separating meat dishes from milk dishes but they don't buy or bring non-kosher products into their homes.
"I would like to see kashrut expand to workplace issues, such as observing Shabbat. I believe the companies won't reject the initiative because it makes a strong statement that will hopefully lead to improved ethics and better codes at work and because they should suit themselves to the society they operate in."
Rabbi Ze'ev Weitman, the kashrut supervisor at Tnuva, said on Tuesday that the company was careful to keep both its products and the accompanying advertisements kosher.
"We want to maintain good relationships with our religious clients and we want them to see us as partners," he said. "We are certainly not interested in hurting anyone's feelings. For example, there was one time that a non-kosher recipe was published by mistake on the Internet under Tnuva's sponsorship. We received many complaints and we removed it immediately. Also, we don't sponsor conferences or events that are held in Shabbat."